Lighting control system and control system

ABSTRACT

The present invention includes a lighting control system provided with two or more lighting devices and one or more illumination comparing devices; wherein the illumination comparing device supplies to the lighting devices a comparison result in which a sampled illumination of an arbitrary position and a target illumination are compared; the two or more lighting devices carry out a judgment based on the comparison result obtained from the illumination comparing device and repetitively increase/decrease their respective light intensities; and the illumination of the arbitrary position is substantially controlled to the target illumination, and with this lighting control system, a predetermined position can be controlled to a desired illumination.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention includes a lighting control system and relates tointelligent lighting control systems that are capable of illuminationcontrol and illumination management for flexible lighting and controlsystems.

BACKGROUND ART

With conventional lighting systems, when numerous light sources areprovided in a hall for example, the light intensities of the lightsources are adjusted individually to set the illumination appropriatelyfor numerous locations inside the hall. With such a technique, it isnecessary repetitively adjust each of the light sources using trial anderror to set the illumination at a predetermined position to a desiredvalue. Also, it is necessary to adjust the light intensity of each ofthe light sources regularly or for each performance in accordance withthe changing over time of the illumination of the lamps. Similarly,adjustments are necessary when the illuminant has degraded and isreplaced. And in conference rooms or the like, the immediate optimalillumination varies when outside light from a window varies.

On the other hand, systems capable of sensing the condition of eachlight source, detecting malfunctions, and remotely controlling therespective illuminations of the light sources are known as intelligentlighting systems (for example see Shomei Shisutemu no Chitekika Sekkei(Incorporating Greater Intelligence in the Design of Lighting Systems),Mitsunori Miki and Takafumi Kozai, Doshisha University, Science andEngineering Research Report, July 1998, Volume 39, No. 2, pp 24-34).

However, even with systems such as that described in the aforementioneddocument, in order to set a desired illumination in desired locations inaudience seats and on stage, trial and error and adjustments have beennecessary as with conventional systems.

On the other hand, although commonly known automatic control may be usedto adjust a single point of illumination of a single light source to apredetermined target value, in cases such as where a plurality of lightsources are used and the overall illumination distribution in a room isto be set to a desired condition, it has not been easy to solve theissues of adjusting a plurality of control targets to set and maintain acondition in which a plurality of target values are met.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide a lighting controlsystem capable of setting the illumination of a predetermined positionto a desired illumination using a plurality of lighting devices inplaces such as in a hall, in an ordinary room, and outdoors.Furthermore, it is an object to provide a control system that iscompatible with similar issues.

In order to solve the above-described issues and achieve the relevantobjects, systems including the lighting control system of the presentinvention employ the following means.

(1) A lighting control system, comprising two or more lighting devicesand one or more illumination comparing devices, wherein the illuminationcomparing device supplies to the lighting devices a comparison result inwhich a sampled illumination of an arbitrary position and a targetillumination are compared, the two or more lighting devices carry out ajudgment based on the comparison result obtained from the illuminationcomparing device and repetitively increase/decrease their respectivelight intensities, and the illumination of the arbitrary position issubstantially controlled to the target illumination.

(2) A lighting control system, comprising two or more lighting devicesand one or more illumination comparing devices, wherein the illuminationcomparing device supplies to the lighting devices a comparison result inwhich a sampled illumination of an arbitrary position and a targetillumination are compared, the illumination comparing device does notspecify a lighting device when supplying the comparison result to thelighting devices, the two or more lighting devices carry out a judgmentbased on the comparison result obtained from the illumination comparingdevice and repetitively increase/decrease their respective lightintensities, and the illumination of the arbitrary position issubstantially controlled to the target illumination.

(3) A lighting control system, comprising two or more lighting devicesand one or more illumination comparing devices, wherein the illuminationcomparing device is provided with an illumination sampling portion thatsamples illumination, an illumination information storage portion thatstores illumination information indicating a target illumination, and acomparison result transmitter portion, wherein a comparison result inwhich a sampled illumination sampled by the illumination samplingportion and the illumination information are compared is transmitted tothe lighting devices by the comparison result transmitter portion, thelighting devices are respectively provided with a transmitter-receiverportion having at least a receiver function, a judgment control portion,and a light source; the transmitter-receiver portion receives thecomparison result sent by the illumination comparing device; thejudgment control portion carries out a predetermined judgment based onthe comparison result so that the light intensity of the light sourcecan be controlled based on a result of the predetermined judgment, andthe control of the light intensity includes light variation control inwhich the light intensity is changed from a current light intensity by apredetermined amount of light variation and return control in which alight intensity is returned to a direction reverse to the lightvariation control, and when the predetermined judgment of the selectedlighting device is that a predetermined condition is met after at leastone lighting device selected from the lighting devices has carried outthe light variation control, a lighting device including at least onelighting device other than the selected lighting device is selected anda predetermined judgment is carried out in the selected lighting deviceusing the light variation control and the judgment control portion suchthat when the predetermined judgment after the light variation controlis that the predetermined condition is unmet, the lighting deviceincluding at least one of the selected lighting devices carries out thereturn control in order to meet the predetermined condition to make thesampled illumination approach the target illumination.

(4) The lighting control system according to (3), wherein when thepredetermined condition is unmet, a light intensity of a lighting deviceincluding at least one of the selected lighting devices is changed bythe return control and, after the predetermined condition becomes met,the sampled illumination is made to approach the target illumination byshifting to selection of a lighting device including at least one of alighting device other than the selected lighting device.

(5) The lighting control system according to (3) or (4), wherein thelighting devices including at least one of the selected lighting devicesare all the lighting devices of the two or more lighting devices.

(6) A lighting control system, having two or more lighting devices andone or more illumination comparing devices, wherein the illuminationcomparing device is provided with an illumination information storageportion that stores at least one piece of illumination informationindicating a target illumination, at least one illumination samplingportion that samples an illumination, and a judgment portion that judgesa relation between the target illumination indicated by the illuminationinformation and a sampled illumination sampled by the illuminationsampling portion, wherein the judgment portion supplies the judgmentresult to the lighting devices, the lighting devices are respectivelyprovided with a judgment control portion and a light source, wherein thejudgment control portion carries out a predetermined judgment based onthe acquired judgment result so that the light intensity of the lightsource can be controlled based on a result of the predeterminedjudgment, and the control of the light intensity includes lightvariation control in which the light intensity is varied from a currentlight intensity by a predetermined amount of light variation and returncontrol in which a return is made in a direction reverse to the lightvariation control, the judgment control portion carries out thepredetermined judgment after at least one selected lighting device fromthe lighting devices carries out the light variation control at leastone time, after which a lighting device including at least one lightingdevice other than the selected lighting device is selected and, afterthe light variation processing has been carried out at least one time inthe selected lighting device, and the judgment control portion carriesout the predetermined judgment and when the predetermined judgment isthat the predetermined condition is unmet, the lighting device includingat least one of the selected lighting devices carries out the returncontrol to make the sampled illumination approach the targetillumination in order to meet the predetermined condition.

(7) A lighting control system, having two or more lighting devices andtwo or more illumination comparing devices, wherein the illuminationcomparing device is provided with an illumination information storageportion that stores illumination information indicating a targetillumination, an illumination sampling portion that samples anillumination, and a judgment portion that judges a relation between thetarget illumination indicated by the illumination information and asampled illumination sampled by the illumination sampling portion,wherein the judgment portion supplies the judgment result to thelighting devices, the lighting devices are respectively provided with ajudgment control portion and a light source, wherein the judgmentcontrol portion carries out a predetermined judgment based on theacquired judgment result so that the light intensity of the light sourcecan be controlled based on a result of the predetermined judgment, andthe control of the light intensity includes light variation control inwhich the light intensity is varied from a current light intensity by apredetermined amount of light variation and return control in which areturn is made in a direction reverse to the light variation control,and the judgment control portion carries out the predetermined judgmentafter at least one selected lighting device from the lighting devicescarries out the light variation control at least one time, after which alighting device including at least one lighting device other than theselected lighting device is selected and, after the light variationprocessing has been carried out at least one time in the selectedlighting device, the judgment control portion carries out thepredetermined judgment and when the predetermined judgment is that thepredetermined condition is unmet, the lighting device including at leastone of the selected lighting devices carries out the return control tomake the sampled illumination approach the target illumination in orderto meet the predetermined condition.

(8) The lighting control system according to (6) or (7), wherein afterat least one of the two or more lighting devices is selected and a lightintensity is subjected to the light variation control, when thepredetermined condition is judged to be met according the predeterminedjudgment of the judgment control portion of the selected lightingdevice, the sampled illumination is made to approach the targetillumination by shifting to the light variation control of a lightintensity of a light source of a lighting device including at least oneof a lighting device other than the selected lighting device, and whenthe predetermined condition is judged to be unmet, the light intensityof the light source of the lighting device including at least one of theselected lighting devices is subjected to return control to meet thepredetermined condition, after which a lighting device including atleast one lighting device other than the selected lighting device isselected and light variation control is carried out to make the sampledillumination approach the target illumination.

(9) The lighting control system according to (6) or (7), wherein atleast one lighting device of the two or more lighting devices isselected and light variation control is performed until thepredetermined condition becomes unmet, and when the predeterminedcondition becomes unmet, a light intensity of a light source of alighting device including at least at one of the selected lightingdevices is subjected to return control to meet the predeterminedcondition, after which a lighting device including at least one lightingdevice other than the selected lighting device is selected and lightvariation control is carried out to perform control such that thesampled illumination is made to approach the target illumination.

(10) The lighting control system according to (8) or (9), wherein thelighting devices, including at least one of the selected lightingdevices that are subjected to the return control, are all the lightingdevices of the two or more lighting devices.

(11) The lighting control system according to (6) or (7), wherein atleast one lighting device of the two or more lighting devices isselected and light variation control is performed until thepredetermined condition becomes unmet, and when the predeterminedcondition becomes unmet, light intensities of light sources of the twoor more lighting devices excluding the selected lighting device aresubjected to light variation control, and when a reverse relation towhen the sampled illuminations are in the constant relation with thetarget illuminations does not occur, the light intensities of lightsources of the two or more lighting devices excluding the selectedlighting device are subjected to return control and after return controlis conducted such that the light intensity of the light source of theselected lighting device returns to the predetermined direction, atleast one lighting device different from the selected lighting device isselected and light variation control is carried out to perform controlsuch that the sampled illuminations are made to approach the targetilluminations.

(12) A lighting control system, comprising two or more lighting devicesand one or more illumination comparing devices, wherein the illuminationcomparing device is provided with an illumination sampling portion thatsamples illumination, an illumination information storage portion thatstores illumination information indicating a target illumination, and acomparison result transmitter portion, wherein a comparison result inwhich a sampled illumination sampled by the illumination samplingportion and the illumination information are compared is transmitted tothe lighting devices by the comparison result transmitter portion, thelighting devices are respectively provided with a transmitter-receiverportion having at least a receiver function, a judgment control portion,and a light source; the transmitter-receiver portion receives thecomparison result sent by the illumination comparing device; thejudgment control portion carries out a predetermined judgment based onthe comparison result so that the light intensity of the light sourcecan be controlled based on a result of the predetermined judgment, andthe control of the light intensity includes light variation control inwhich the light intensity is changed from a current light intensity andreturn control in which a light intensity is returned to a directionreverse to the light variation control, the lighting devicesrespectively carry out the light variation control and, after the lightvariation control, when the predetermined judgment is that apredetermined condition is unmet, the lighting devices carry out thereturn control in order to meet the predetermined condition, in thelighting devices, the sampled illuminations are made to approach thetarget illumination by setting an amount of light variation in the lightvariation control as one of an amount varied randomly based on apredetermined amount of light variation, an amount that is a returnamount of light in the return control randomly varied, or an amount inwhich both are randomly varied.

(13) The lighting control system according to any of (3) to (12),wherein prior to selection of the lighting devices, the lightintensities of the light sources of all the lighting devices are set toa maximum light intensity or a minimum light intensity capable of beingproduced by all the lighting devices in order to meet the predeterminedcondition, or when the predetermined condition is not met, the lightintensities of all the lighting devices are varied in a light variationdirection of the return control in order to meet the predeterminedcondition.

(14) The lighting control system according to any of (3) to (13),wherein when there is a single illumination sampling portion in thelighting control system, the judgment control portion judges that thepredetermined condition is met when the sampled illumination is in aconstant relation with the target illumination and judges that thepredetermined condition is unmet when the sampled illumination is not ina constant relation with the target illumination, and when there are twoor more illumination sampling portions, the judgment control portionjudges that the predetermined condition is met when the sampledilluminations are all in a constant relation with the correspondingtarget illuminations and judges that the predetermined condition isunmet when even one is not in a constant relation.

(15) The lighting control system according to (14), wherein theaforementioned “in a constant relation” is a relation in which thesampled illumination is larger than the corresponding targetillumination and the predetermined amount of light variation in a caseof this relation is an amount of light reduction.

(16) The lighting control system according to (14), wherein theaforementioned “in a constant relation” is a relation in which thesampled illumination is smaller than the corresponding targetillumination and the predetermined amount of light variation in a caseof this relation is an amount of light increase.

(17) The lighting control system according to any of (3) to (14);wherein the predetermined amount of light variation is an amount oflight variation based on a difference between an initial light intensityand a threshold light intensity of a light source.

(18) The lighting control system according to (17), wherein thethreshold light intensity is a light intensity of when light intensitiesof the two or more lighting devices are changed from the initial lightintensity and the predetermined condition becomes unmet, or immediatelyprior to the predetermined condition becoming unmet.

(19) The lighting control system according to any of (3) to (13),wherein at least one of the predetermined amount of light variation andthe return control amount of light is an amount of light variation basedon a differential illumination between the sampled illumination and thetarget illumination.

(20) The lighting control system according to any of (3) to (13),wherein at least one of the predetermined amount of light variation andthe return control amount of light is set for each of the light sources.

(21) The lighting control system according to any of (3) to (13),wherein at least one of the predetermined amount of light variation andthe return control amount of light is reduced in response to aconvergence in which the sampled illuminations approach the targetilluminations, or reduced along with a passing of time untilconvergence.

(22) The lighting control system according to any of (3) to (13),wherein a selection number of the selected lighting devices is made toapproach one in response to a convergence in which the sampledilluminations approach the target illuminations.

(23) A lighting control system, comprising two or more lighting devicesand one or more illumination comparing devices, wherein the illuminationcomparing device is provided with an illumination sampling portion thatsamples illumination, an illumination information storage portion thatstores illumination information indicating a target illumination, and acomparison result transmitter portion, wherein a comparison result, inwhich a sampled illumination sampled by the illumination samplingportion and the target illumination indicated by the illuminationinformation are compared, is transmitted by the comparison resulttransmitter portion, the two or more lighting devices are respectivelyprovided with a transmitter-receiver portion having at least a receiverfunction, a judgment control portion, and a light source; thetransmitter-receiver portion receives the comparison result sent by thecomparison result transmitter portion; the judgment control portioncarries out a predetermined judgment based on the received comparisonresult so that the light intensities of the light sources can becontrolled based on the judgment, the judgment control portion of atleast one of the two or more lighting devices randomly changes the lightintensities of the light sources and the sampled illuminations are madeto approach the target illuminations by narrowing a range in which thejudgment control portion randomly changes the light intensities based onthe comparison result received at the transmitter-receiver portion.

(24) The lighting control system according to (23), wherein the lightintensities of all the two or more lighting devices are respectivelychanged randomly and the sampled illumination is made to approach thetarget illumination by narrowing a range in which the judgment controlportion randomly changes the light intensity based on the comparisonresult received at the transmitter-receiver portion.

(25) The lighting control system according to (23) or (24), wherein aplurality of illumination comparing devices are provided, the judgmentcontrol portions of the two or more lighting devices total thecomparison results received from the plurality of illumination comparingdevices to calculate an evaluation value and the sampled illuminationsare made to approach the target illuminations by narrowing a range ofrandomly changed light intensities based on the evaluation value.

(26) The lighting control system according to any of (23) to (25),wherein the illumination comparing device compares the sampledilluminations and the corresponding target illuminations and transmitsillumination difference information as the comparison result so that thereceived comparison result is evaluated in the judgment control portionof at least one of the lighting devices, and narrows the range in whichlight intensities are randomly changed so as to increase an occurrencerate of light intensities corresponding to evaluations of smallillumination differences indicated by the illumination differenceinformation and make the sampled illuminations approach the targetilluminations.

(27) The lighting control system according to any of (23) to (25),wherein the illumination comparing device transmits large-smallinformation indicating which of the sampled illumination and thecorresponding target illumination is larger, and the judgment controlportion of the at least one lighting device of the two or more lightingdevices narrows a range in which light intensities are randomly changedso as to counterbalance large information and small information of thelarge-small information based on the received comparison result to makethe sampled illuminations approach the target illuminations.

(28) The lighting control system according to any of (1) to (27),wherein at least one of a condition of the two or more lighting devicesin light variation control and illumination information is displayed ona display.

(29) The lighting control system according to any of (1) to (27),wherein a light intensity of a light source of the lighting devices at afinal stage of the convergence can be stored and the light intensity ofthe light source of the lighting devices can be reproduced by receivingan instruction.

(30) A light source constituted by the lighting control system accordingto any of (3) to (29).

(31) A lighting device constituted by the lighting control systemaccording to any of (1) to (29).

(32) An illumination comparing device constituted by the lightingcontrol system according to any of (1) to (29).

With the above-described configurations, a light intensity distributioncan be achieved in which arbitrary points of illumination can be set toa desired illumination. Furthermore, a desired illumination can beachieved rapidly.

(33) A control system, being a control system having two or more controltarget devices and one or more judgment devices, wherein the judgmentdevice is provided with a reference information storage portion thatstores reference information, an observation information samplingportion that samples observation information, and a judgment portionthat judges whether or not the reference information and the observationinformation meet a predetermined condition, and sends a judgment resultof the judgment portion to the two or more control target devices, thecontrol target devices can control a control amount based on thejudgment result and the control includes variation control, in which acurrent control value is changed by a predetermined control amount, andreturn control, in which a return is made to a reverse direction to adirection of change of a predetermined control amount, and the judgmentportion carries out a judgment as to whether or not the predeterminedcondition is met after at least one selected control target device fromthe control target devices carries out the variation control at leastone time, after which a control target device including at least onecontrol target device other than the selected control target device isselected and, after the variation processing has been carried out atleast one time in the new selected control target device, the judgmentportion of the selected control target device carries out the judgmentand when the judgment portion judges that the predetermined condition isunmet, the control target devices including at least one of the selectedcontrol target devices carry out the return control to make theobservation information approach the reference information in order tomeet the predetermined condition.

(34) The control system according to (33), wherein after at least onecontrol target device is selected and variation control is performedwhen the judgment result meets the predetermined condition, and acontrol target device including at least at one control target deviceother than the selected control target device is selected and subjectedto variation control when the predetermined condition is met, and whenthe predetermined condition becomes unmet, return control is performedwith a control amount of the control target devices including at leastone control target device other than the selected control target deviceto meet the predetermined condition, after which a control target deviceincluding at least one control target device other than the selectedcontrol target device is selected and variation control is repeated toperform control such that all the observation information is made toapproach the corresponding reference information.

(35) The control system according to (33), wherein at least one controltarget device is selected and the variation control is performed untilthe predetermined condition becomes unmet when the judgment result meetsthe predetermined condition, and when the predetermined conditionbecomes unmet, return control is performed with a control amount of thecontrol target devices including at least one control target deviceother than the selected control target device to meet the predeterminedcondition, after which a control target device including at least at onecontrol target device other than the selected control target device isselected and variation control is repeated to perform control such thatall the observation information is made to approach the correspondingreference information.

(36) The control system according to (33), wherein at least one controltarget device is selected and the variation control is performed untilthe predetermined condition becomes unmet when the judgment result meetsthe predetermined condition, and when the predetermined conditionbecomes unmet, variation control is performed on a control amount of thecontrol target devices excluding the selected control target devices,and when a relation reverse to the constant relation does not occur atall points of observation, control amounts of all the control targetdevices excluding the selected control target devices are subjected toreturn control in a previous direction, and after the predeterminedcondition becomes met by return control being conducted on the controlamounts of the selected control target devices in a previous direction,a control target device including at least at one control target deviceother than the selected control target device is selected and variationcontrol is repeated to perform control such that all the observationinformation is made to approach the corresponding reference information.

(37) A control system, being a control system having two or more controltarget devices and one or more judgment devices, wherein the judgmentdevice is provided with a reference information storage portion thatstores reference information, an observation information samplingportion that samples observation information, and a judgment portionthat judges whether or not the reference information and the observationinformation meet a predetermined condition, and sends a judgment resultof the judgment portion to the two or more control target devices, thecontrol target devices can control a control amount based on thejudgment result and the control includes variation control, in which acurrent control value is changed by a predetermined control amount, andreturn control, in which a return is made to a reverse direction to adirection of change of a predetermined control amount, the controltarget devices respectively carry out the variation control and, afterthe variation control, when the predetermined judgment is that apredetermined condition is unmet, the control target devices carry outthe return control in order to meet the predetermined condition, and theobservation information of the control target devices is made toapproach the reference information by setting an amount of variation inthe variation control as one of an amount varied randomly based on apredetermined amount of variation, an amount that is a return variationamount in the return control randomly varied, or an amount in which bothare randomly varied.

(38) The control system according to any of (33) to (37), wherein priorto selection of the control target devices, the control amounts of allthe control target devices are set to a maximum value or a minimum valuein order to meet the predetermined condition, or return cool isconducted on the control amounts of all the control target devices tomeet the predetermined condition.

(39) The control system according to any of (33) to (38), wherein whenthe reference information storage portion stores a single set ofreference information, and the observation information sampling portionsamples a single set of observation information, the judgment result isthat the predetermined condition is met when the observation informationand the corresponding reference information are in a constant relation,and the judgment result is that the predetermined condition is unmetwhen not in a constant relation, and when the reference informationstorage portion stores two or more sets of reference information and theobservation information sampling portion samples two or more sets ofobservation information, the judgment result is that the predeterminedcondition is met when the two or more sets of observation informationare all in a constant relation with the corresponding two or more setsof reference information, and the judgment result is that thepredetermined condition is unmet when even one is not in a constantrelation.

(40) The control system according to (39), wherein the “in a constantrelation” is a relation in which the observation information is largerthan the corresponding reference information and in case of thisrelation the variation control is a control in which the observationinformation is lowered.

(41) The control system according to (39), wherein the “in a constantrelation” is a relation in which the observation information is smallerthan the corresponding reference information and in case of thisrelation the variation control is a control in which the observationinformation is increased.

(42) The control system according to any of (33) to (41), wherein acontrol width of at least one of the control amount of the controltarget device and a control amount of the return control is set for eachof the control target devices.

(43) The control system according to any of (33) to (42), wherein acontrol width of at least one of the control amount of the controltarget device and a control amount of the return control is reduced inresponse to a convergence, or reduced along with a passing of time untilconvergence.

(44) The control system according to any of (33) to (43), wherein aselection number of the selected control target devices is made toapproach one in response to a convergence.

(45) A control system, being a control system having two or more controltarget devices, a judgment device, and an observation informationsampling portion, wherein the judgment device is provided with areference information storage portion that stores reference information,an observation information sampling portion that samples observationinformation, and a comparison portion that compares the referenceinformation and the observation information, and sends a comparisonresult to the control target devices, the control target device controla control amount based on the judgment result, and at least one of thecontrol target devices randomly changes the amount of control and theobservation information is made to approach the reference information bynarrowing a range in which the judgment control portion randomly changesthe amount of control based on the received comparison result.

(46) The control system according to (45), wherein all the controltarget devices randomly change the respective amount of control and theobservation information is made to approach the reference information bynarrowing a range in which the control target devices randomly changethe control amounts based on the received comparison result.

(47) The control system according to (45) or (46), wherein a pluralityof judgment devices are provided, the control target devices total thecomparison results received from the plurality of judgment devices tocalculate an evaluation value and the observation information is made toapproach the reference information by narrowing a range of randomlychanged control amounts based on the evaluation value.

(48) The control system according to any of (45) to (47), wherein thejudgment device compares the observation information and the referenceinformation in the comparison portion and sends difference informationas the comparison result so that the received comparison result isevaluated in at least one of the control target devices, and narrows therange in which the control amounts are randomly changed so as toincrease an occurrence rate of control amounts corresponding toevaluations of small difference information to make the observationinformation approach the reference information.

(49) The control system according to any of (45) to (47), wherein thejudgment device transmits large-small information indicating which ofthe observation information and the reference information is larger, andat least one of the control target devices counterbalances largeinformation and small information of the large-small information basedon the received comparison result to narrow a range in which the controlamounts are randomly changed so as to make the observation informationapproach the reference information.

(50) A control target device constituted by the control system accordingto any of (33) to (49).

(51) A judgment device constituted by the control system according toany of (33) to (49).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a lighting control systemaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a lighting control procedureof a lighting control system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a lighting control procedureof a lighting control system according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a lighting control procedureof a lighting control system according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows an example of an evaluation value table used in a lightingcontrol system according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a lighting control systemaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a lighting control systemaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a lighting control procedureof a lighting control system according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of one embodiment of a lighting control procedureof a lighting control system according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a communications path diagram of one embodiment of a lightingcontrol system according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a structural view of one embodiment of a control systemaccording to the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

A lighting control system according to the present invention is providedwith two or more lighting devices and one or more illumination comparingdevices, wherein the illumination comparing device supplies to thelighting devices a comparison result in which a sampled illumination ofan arbitrary position and a target illumination are compared, the two ormore lighting devices carry out a judgment based on the comparisonresult obtained from the illumination comparing device and repetitivelyincrease/decrease their respective light intensities, and theillumination of the arbitrary position is substantially controlled tothe target illumination. The illumination comparing device may or maynot specify a lighting device when supplying the comparison result tothe lighting devices.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a lighting control system according to thepresent invention will be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. It should be noted that structural elements to which identicalreference numerals are attached in the embodiments carry out identicaloperations, and therefore duplicate description may be omitted.

Embodiment 1

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a lighting control system according tothe present invention. In FIG. 1, description concerns controllingillumination of predetermined locations based on three light sources,light sources 10 a, 10 b, and 10 c.

In FIG. 1, a lighting device 11 a has a transmitter-receiver portion 111a, a judgment control portion 112 a, and the light source 10 a. Alighting device 11 b has a transmitter-receiver portion 111 b, ajudgment control portion 112 b, and the light source 10 b. A lightingdevice 11 c has a transmitter-receiver portion 111 c, a judgment controlportion 112 c, and the light source 10 c. The transmitter-receiverportions 111 a, 111 b, and 111 c receive comparison results, which willbe described later, and carry out communication among thetransmitter-receiver portions. The judgment control portions 112 a, 112b, and 112 c carry out a predetermined judgment according to analgorithm, which will be described later, and control the respectivelight intensities of the light sources 10 a, 10 b, and 10 c according toa judgment result of whether a predetermined condition is met or notmet. The light sources 10 a, 10 b, and 10 c illuminate an interior of aroom.

An illumination comparing device 12 x is provided with an illuminationsampling portion 122 x, which includes a sensor that detectsillumination in a desired position X, an illumination informationstorage portion 125 x, which stores illumination information Lxsindicating a target illumination, and a comparison result transmitterportion 124 x, and uses the comparison result transmitter portion tosend a comparison result Cx of a comparison between a sampledillumination Lx and the target illumination Lxs to thetransmitter-receiver portions 111 a, 111 b, and 111 c.

An illumination comparing device 12 y is provided with an illuminationsampling portion 122 y, which includes a sensor that detectsillumination in a predetermined position Y, an illumination informationstorage portion 125 y, which stores illumination information Lxyindicating a target illumination, and a comparison result transmitterportion 124 y, and uses the comparison result transmitter portion tosend a comparison result Cy of a comparison between a sampledillumination Ly and the target illumination Lys to thetransmitter-receiver portions 111 a, 111 b, and 111 c.

After one of the lighting devices 11 a, 11 b, and 11 c has undergonelight variation control by having its light intensity changed by apredetermined amount of light variation, the judgment control devicecarries out judgment on a comparison result received at thetransmitter-receiver portion of the aforementioned one lighting device,a result of which is that the sampled illumination of the illuminationsampling portion is brought closer to the target illumination bytransferring light variation control of the light intensity of the lightsources of the other lighting devices when a predetermined condition ismet.

Here, when the lighting control system is provided with a plurality ofillumination comparing devices as shown in FIG. 1, the predeterminedcondition is considered met when there is a judgment result that thesampled illumination measured by the illumination sampling portions andthe target illuminations are in a constant relation with respect to allthe illumination comparing devices, and the predetermined condition isconsidered unmet when even one is not in a constant relation. Theaforementioned “in a constant relation” refers to when the sampledillumination of the aforementioned illumination sampling portion islarger than the target illumination indicated by the correspondingillumination information. It should be noted that “in a constantrelation” may also refer to when the sampled illumination of theaforementioned illumination sampling portion is smaller than the targetillumination indicated by the corresponding illumination information.

It should also be noted that even when there is a single illuminationcomparing device, the definition of “in a constant relation” is definedin the same manner as above.

Furthermore, the predetermined amount of light variation is an amount oflight variation based on a difference between an initial light intensityand a threshold light intensity of the light source. The threshold lightintensity is set as the light intensity when the predetermined conditionbecomes unmet, or immediately prior to the predetermined conditionbecoming unmet while the light intensity of the lighting device changesfrom the initial light intensity.

The transmitter-receiver portions 111 a, 111 b, and 111 c have atransmission function and carry out declarations of light reductionprocessing and notices of completion of light reduction processing,which will be described later, to the transmitter-receiver portions ofthe other lighting devices.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a flowchart of lighting control according tothe present embodiment. At S20 in FIG. 2, the light intensities of theall the lighting devices 11 a, 11 b, and 11 c are set to a maximum lightintensity. At S21, the lighting devices 11 a, 11 b, and 11 c carry outnegotiation, which will be described later, and a lighting device jdeclares light reduction processing to the other lighting devices, thisbeing a process of light variation control in the present embodiment.Having received the declaration, the other lighting devices standbywithout carrying out light reduction processing. At S22, the lightingdevice j stores the current light intensity as the initial lightintensity. At S23, the lighting device j lowers the light intensity onestep. One step is set to a predetermined light intensity that is not toolarge. At S24, a judgment is carried out as to whether or not there isan NG sensor. That is to say, the comparison transmitter portions 124 xand 124 y examine (Lx−Lxs) and (Ly−Lys) respectively and transmitcomparison results Cx and Cy, which indicate whether a value is positiveor negative, to the lighting device j. Having received Cx and Cy, thejudgment control portion of the lighting device determines whether ornot even one of these is negative, that is, whether or not one is NG. Ifthere is no NG, the procedure returns to S22 and the light intensity isagain lowered one step. When an NG sensor does occur and there is a YESat S23, the procedure proceeds to S25.

At S25, the light intensity of the lighting device j at this time is setas the threshold light intensity, an amount of light variation iscalculated based on a difference between the initial light intensity andthe threshold light intensity, and the light intensity is lowered fromthe current light intensity by the amount of light variation. The valuefor the amount of light variation is set to one N-th of the differencebetween the initial light intensity and the threshold light intensity,an example of N being the number of lighting devices. It should be notedthat N may be another numerical value. Next, at S26, the samedetermination as at S24 is carried out. Generally the result of thedetermination here is NO, that is, in the aforementioned constantrelation, thereby meeting the predetermined condition, and therefore theprocedure proceeds to S28. At S28, the lighting device j notifies thecompletion of light reduction processing and the next light reductionprocessing is paused for a predetermined period. This is so that theother lighting devices can perform light reduction processing.

At S29, the lighting devices except for the above-mentioned lightingdevice j receive notification of completion of light reductionprocessing and through negotiation, which will be described later, oneof the lighting devices other than the lighting device j acquires aright of light reduction processing as a new lighting device j. Alighting device capable of carrying out negotiation is one that hasfinished the predetermined period of pause in light reductionprocessing. At S22, the new lighting device j stores the light intensityat that time as the initial light intensity. Then, the procedureproceeds through S23, S24, S25, and S26.

When not in the aforementioned constant relation and the predeterminedcondition is not met, return control is carried out in which the lightintensities of all the lighting devices are changed by a predeterminedamount in a reverse direction to the predetermined amount of lightvariation to meet the aforementioned predetermined condition. Namely,when Lx and Ly approach Lxs and Lys respectively at S26, one of thesampled illuminations falls below the corresponding target illuminationsuch that a YES occurs. When this happens, all the light intensities ofall the lighting devices are raised one step at S27. This one step oflight intensity may be the latest amount of light variation of each ofthe lighting devices or may be a fraction of that number. Alternatively,it may be a sufficiently small predetermined light intensity.

The above-described procedure of S22 to S27 is executed in an orderdecided by negotiation among the respective judgment control portions112 a, 112 b, and 112 c to carry out control of light intensities.

Next, negotiation of communications and processing among the lightingdevices and among the illumination comparing devices is described. Thelighting apparatuses carry out declarations of light variation control,in this case declarations of light reduction processing, using afirst-come-first-served system. In order to do this, when a lightingdevice receives a notification of completion of processing from anotherlighting device, it transmits a processing declaration after a delaytime Td from reception, after which the right of processing of thatlighting apparatus is established if a processing declaration is notreceived from another lighting device within a predetermined window timeTw and light reduction processing commences. The delay time Td isdecided using a random number inside each of the lighting devices. Whena lighting apparatus that has a large delay time Td and has not yetcarried out a processing declaration receives a declaration from anotherlighting device before carrying out its processing declaration, it willnot transmit a processing declaration until the next notification ofcompleted processing is received. It is rare for the value of the delaytime Td to be the same in two or more lighting apparatuses. That is, itis extremely rare for a plurality of lighting devices to carry outprocessing declarations at the same time and ordinarily only onelighting apparatus acquires the right of processing.

In extremely rare cases, a plurality of lighting devices may carry outdeclarations substantially simultaneously and receive a declaration oflight reduction processing from a different lighting device other thanitself within the time Tw. In this case, a judgment is made that thereis a different lighting device carrying out a light reductiondeclaration and after a delay time Td′ decided by again generating arandom number, a light reduction processing declaration is againtransmitted. It is even rarer for the delay time Td′ to again be thesame value in a plurality of lighting devices and finally only onelighting device is able to acquire the right of light reductionprocessing. Even in the remote possibility that light reductionprocessing declarations again occur simultaneously, if the declarationsare repeated, definitely only one lighting device will be able toacquire the right of light reduction processing. In this process, alighting device that receives a light reduction processing declarationprior to carrying out a light reduction processing declaration does notacquire the right of light reduction processing and goes into a standbystate until the next notification of completion of light reductionprocessing is received.

The window time Tw can be set longer than a total time required fortransmission processing, reception processing, and detection ofreception processing of the light reduction processing declaration. Thedelay times Td and Td′ can be set to a time of a random integralmultiple of a unit delay time (Tw+δT) longer than the window time Tw.

The aforementioned light reduction processing declaration works toprohibit light reduction processing in the other lighting devices. Asanother method, a light reduction prohibition telegram may betransmitted after a predetermined time Tf from transmission of the lightreduction processing declaration such that a lighting device thatreceives the light reduction prohibition telegram does not carry outlight reduction processing. Tf is set to a value sufficiently smallerthan (Tw+δT).

It should be noted that by arranging a lighting device k, which had thesmallest delay time Td, to transmit its light reduction processingdeclaration then transmit a light reduction prohibition telegram afterreceiving one light reduction processing declaration from anotherlighting device, the number of lighting devices that carry out lightreduction processing declarations prior to receiving the light reductionprohibition telegram becomes two including the lighting device k, andtherefore it is possible to have two lighting devices commence lightreduction control. When the lighting device k receives two or more lightreduction processing declarations simultaneously after it hastransmitted its light reduction processing declaration, if it transmitsa light reduction prohibition telegram and a telegram to restart lightreduction processing declarations, and the aforementioned two or morelighting devices that have already transmitted light reductionprocessing declarations carries out again light reduction processingdeclarations, so that the number can be reduced to one. Using the sameprinciple, the number of lighting devices that carry out light reductioncontrol can be set to a desired number of three or more devices.

Furthermore, the following is also possible. Namely, it is possible toprovide a loop counter memory in each lighting device and to increase byone the number of times of loops stored in the loop counter memory eachtime the process of S28 is executed such that along with light reductionprocessing declarations, loop count data is sent during theaforementioned negotiation. By arranging so that a lighting device thathas received a light reduction processing declaration from anotherlighting device does not carry out a light reduction processingdeclaration when its number of times of loops is higher, it is possibleto make the acquisition of the right for light reduction processing tooccur giving priority to lighting devices having lower number of timesof loops. It is possible to avoid having only a portion of the lightingdevice carry out light reduction processing numerous times.

Instead of deciding the delay time Td using random numbers, the numberof lighting devices to carry out a light reduction processingdeclaration may be reduced to one by setting in each lighting device aprobability P less than one that a light reduction processingdeclaration can be carried out. Each lighting device generates a randomnumber and carries out a light reduction declaration only when thenumber is in a certain range. When light reduction processingdeclarations overlap within the window time Tw, those lighting devicesagain generate a random number and carry out a light reductiondeclaration only when the number is in a certain range. In this way,finally there is one lighting device. It should be noted that it is alsopossible to make the probability P approach one in accordance toincreases in the number of times of loops.

In regard to the aforementioned return control, the return control canbe commenced when the telegram of the comparison result sent by theillumination comparing devices is received by the transmitter-receiverportions of the lighting devices and the judgment control portionthereof judges that the predetermined condition is not met. Since thetelegrams of the comparison results sent by the illumination comparingdevices are received at the same time by all the lighting devices, thereturn control is carried out together by all the lighting devicesincluding lighting devices that have carried out light reductionprocessing.

By carrying out negotiation using the same principle as described abovebetween the lighting devices that have not carried out light reductionprocessing, it is also possible to select the lighting devices to carryout return control. And it is also possible to use negotiation to decidethe lighting devices that will not carry out return control.

These communications may be broadcast-type communications that do notrequire an address for the lighting device. The comparison results aretransmitted from the illumination comparing devices 12 x and 12 y to allthe lighting devices, but this too may be broadcast-type communications.The transmitter-receiver portions of the lighting devices receivetransmitted information from all the illumination comparing devices.Accordingly, there are no destination addresses and the mode ofcommunications telegram can be simplified.

With such a communication system, lighting control can be carried out sothat there is predetermined illumination in a predetermined positionwithout adjusting the lighting devices or the illumination comparingdevices even when the number of lighting devices increases or decreasesand even when the number of illumination comparing devices increases ordecreases. It is also possible to freely move the illumination comparingdevices to a desired position and then make the illumination of thatposition constrict or converge to a desired value.

It should be noted that by separately providing a management device thatmanages all the lighting devices, it is possible to achieve aconfiguration in which the execution of light reduction processing isinstructed and the lighting devices are made to conduct light reductionprocessing in order. In this case, the management device and thetransmitter-receiver portions of the lighting devices may be connectedusing wired communication routes or may be connected using wirelesschannels such as a wireless LAN. By providing plug and playfunctionality, even when there is an addition to the number of lightingdevices, lighting control can be carried out in a state in which a newlighting device has been added.

It is possible that Immediately after starting, the lighting devicescommunicate with each other simultaneously or alternately and areallotted numbers respectively so as to not overlap, then after theallotment of numbers has finished, light reduction processing is carriedout in the order of the numbers such that in the event of a notificationof light reduction processing, each device notifies its own number andthe lighting device of the next number thereafter is set to acquire theright to carry out the next light reduction processing.

It should be noted that in the foregoing embodiment, description wasgiven concerning light reduction processing in which the light intensityis reduced as a form of light variation control, but lighting controlaccording to the present invention can also be carried out by switchingto light increasing processing in which the light intensities areincreased starting from the lowest light intensity.

Embodiment 2

When obtaining the aforementioned threshold light intensity, one step oflight intensity may be decided based on a differential illumination ofthe current illumination of the illumination comparing device and thecorresponding target illumination. FIG. 3 shows a processing flowchartfor the case of the present embodiment. Only portions different from thecase of FIG. 2 are described.

At S33 in FIG. 3, the lighting device j receives the differentialilluminations (Lx−Lxs) and (Ly−Lys) of the sampled illumination in eachof the illumination comparing devices at this time and the targetilluminations, and lowers its light intensity according to thedifferential illuminations. For example, the light intensity is loweredfor each light intensity not too large in proportion to(Lx−Lxs)+(Ly−Lys).

Here the other steps S30 to S32 and S34 to S39 are respectively the sameprocedure as S20 to S22 and S24 to S29, and therefore description willbe omitted.

In this way, the threshold light intensity can be approached rapidlywithout spending time even in the case of too-bright lighting devices,and an accurate threshold light intensity can be obtained. After thethreshold light intensity is obtained, it is possible to approach thetarget illumination distribution using the procedure of embodiment 1.

Embodiment 3

The aforementioned predetermined amount of light variation may be anamount of light variation based on a differential illumination of acurrent sampled illumination in the illumination comparing device andthe target illumination indicated by corresponding illuminationinformation. FIG. 4 shows a processing flowchart for the case of thepresent embodiment. Only portions different from the case of FIG. 2 aredescribed.

At S42 in FIG. 4, the lighting device j receives the differentialilluminations (Lx−Lxs) and (Ly−Lys) of the illumination in each of theillumination comparing devices at this time and the targetilluminations, and sets the amount of light variation according to thedifferential illuminations. For example, the light intensity is loweredusing a light intensity not too large in proportion to (Lx−Lxs)+(Ly−Lys)as a predetermined amount of light variation.

Here the other steps S40 to S41 and S43 to S46 are respectively the sameprocedure as S20 to S21 and S26 to S29, and therefore description willbe omitted.

In this way, even in the case of too-bright lighting devices, a largeamount of light variation is applied at first so that an appropriatelight intensity can be approached without spending too much time, andsince the amount of light variation can be made smaller in accordancewith the approach to the final light intensity, the target illuminationcan be reached rapidly and accurately. Furthermore, the loop procedurefor obtaining the amount of light variation in FIGS. 2 and 3 becomesunnecessary, and therefore it is possible to reduce a condition in whichthe light intensities of the light sources undergo largeincrease/decrease changes at the initial stage of lighting control.

Embodiment 4

In the foregoing embodiments, when the aforementioned predeterminedcondition was not met, the light intensities of all the lighting deviceswere changed by a predetermined amount in the reverse direction to thepredetermined amount of light variation in order to meet theaforementioned predetermined condition, after which the process wasshifted to light variation control of the light intensities of the otherlight sources. However, with the present embodiment, it is also possibleto make the illumination of the illumination sampling portion approachthe target illumination by changing the light intensities of a portionof the lighting devices including the lighting device j, which iscarrying out light reduction processing, by a predetermined amount inthe reverse direction to the predetermined amount of light variation inorder to meet the aforementioned predetermined condition, and then theprocess is shifted to light variation control of the light intensitiesof the other light sources.

The above-described embodiments 1 to 4 are methods in which, in anautonomous distributed environment, the light sources independentlyincrease or decrease their light intensities to find out a sensor valueof that time, and by doing this a one-step value is found out byinferring the degrees of influence of the light sources (called the“DORAR method”), and are systems in which, based on this, the lightsources are made bright at first and are gradually darkened such thatonce a sensor in even one location violates a constraint condition (theillumination becomes smaller than a prescribed value), the lightintensities of all the light sources are increased by a constant value,after which they are again gradually darkened.

Embodiment 5

Next, a lighting control system using a genetic algorithm is described.With this system, the light sources of the lighting devices are randomlymade brighter and darker to examine a correlation for a particular lightsource between its own light intensity and information of a sensor, andits own influence is inferred by learning such that an appropriateone-step value can be found out from the inferred result and the lightintensity controlled.

With the present embodiment, as with that shown in FIG. 1, the lightingcontrol system is provided with two or more lighting devices and one ormore illumination comparing devices. The lighting devices are providedwith a transmitter-receiver portion, a judgment control portion, and alight source, and the comparison result sent by the illuminationcomparing device is received and undergoes a predetermined judgment tocontrol the light intensities of the aforementioned light sources. Theaforementioned illumination comparing device is provided with anillumination sampling portion that samples illumination, illuminationinformation, which is information indicating a target illumination, anda comparison result transmitter portion. The comparison result ofcomparing the sampled illumination and the illumination information istransmitted by the comparison result transmitter portion.

The light intensity of at least one of the lighting devices is randomlychanged, and the sampled illumination of the illumination samplingportion is made to approach the target illumination by generallynarrowing the range of light intensity that is randomly changed based onthe comparison results received at the judgment control portion.

Although the light intensities of the lighting devices may be changedrandomly one by one, it is possible to achieve a target illuminationdistribution in a shorter time by randomly changing the lightintensities of all the respective lighting devices independently andmaking the illumination of the illumination sampling portion approachthe target illumination by generally narrowing the range of lightintensity that is randomly changed based on the comparison resultsreceived at the judgment control portion. Here “generally” means thatalthough it is possible for the range of light intensity to temporarilyexpand locally, broadly the range can continue to be narrowed.

Furthermore, it is also possible that the illumination comparing devicecompares the sampled illumination and the illumination information andtransmits illumination difference information as a comparison result sothat the received comparison result is evaluated in the judgment controlportion of the aforementioned at least one lighting device, and narrowsthe range in which the light intensity is randomly changed so as toincrease the occurrence rate of light intensities corresponding toevaluations of small illumination differences and make the illuminationof the illumination sampling portion approach the target illumination.

When the judgment control portion of the lighting device is providedwith a plurality of illumination comparing devices, the comparisonresults received from the plurality of illumination comparing devicesare totaled to calculate an evaluation value and the illumination of theillumination sampling portion is made to approach the targetillumination by generally narrowing the range of light intensity that israndomly changed based on the evaluation value.

FIG. 5 shows examples of evaluation values of illumination differenceswhen the light intensity of the lighting device j is changed randomly.First, a case in which there is a single illumination comparing deviceis described. The light intensity of the lighting device j is randomlychanged among a plurality of values between a maximum value and aminimum value, in units of 10% for example, and evaluation values forthe respective light intensities are calculated. This is a single randomsequence. When the light intensity is 200 candelas, the evaluation valueof the difference with the target illumination is −37. The evaluationvalues are numerical values in which the illumination difference withthe target illumination is converted by a predetermined formula. Next, avalue of 48 is given for 1,000 candela. When the light intensities ofthe other lighting devices are also changed randomly, the evaluationvalues will not always be the same even when the light intensity of thelighting device j is the same. However, the extent of influence onillumination by the light intensity of the lighting device j is evidentin a table of light intensities of the lighting device j and a table ofevaluation values of the illumination differences. Of the evaluationvalues according to the random sequence this time, portions of lightintensities corresponding to large positive numerical values and largenegative numerical values are excluded to narrow the range of variationof light intensities, and in the next random sequence the lightintensity of the lighting device j is again randomly changed andevaluation values are calculated. For example, from the larger positiveevaluation values, 1,000 candela and 900 candela, which correspond to 48and 43, are excluded, and from the larger negative values, 100 candelaand 200 candela, which correspond to −35 and −37, are excluded, and thelight intensity is changed randomly in the range of 300 candela to 800candela. The unit width of change was 100 candelas the previous time,but this time it can be made smaller to 80 candelas. By narrowing thewidth of random change for each random sequence, the light intensity ofthe lighting device j can be made to approach a light intensity thatgives an illumination close to the target illumination.

When a plurality of illumination comparing devices are provided, thejudgment control portion of each lighting device totals the plurality ofcomparison results received from the plurality of illumination comparingdevices and calculates evaluation values. A method of totaling may besimply adding the numerical values of the plurality of comparisonresults, or may be an average. The numerical values of the plurality ofcomparison results may be subjected to root square addition or root meansquare. In this case, the evaluation values are positive values notsmaller than zero, and therefore the light intensity variation width isnarrowed by excluding light intensities that have caused regions oflarge evaluation values.

As another method, the illumination comparing device may transmitlarge-small information representing which of the sampled illuminationand the illumination information is larger, and the judgment controlportion of the at least one lighting device establishes a new, slightlynarrower range of light intensity change in which large information andsmall information of the large-small information is generallycounterbalanced based on the received comparison results and randomchange occurs within that range. Then, by proceeding in order with theabove-described processing, the range of light intensities is narrowedand the illumination of the illumination sampling portion may be made toapproach the target illumination. The comparison results in this casecan be viewed as items expressed as binaries.

The occurrence rate of randomly changed light intensities may be auniform distribution, but may also be an occurrence rate of intermediatelight intensities made larger such as in a normal distribution. In theabove description, the light variation width of light intensities wasset to narrow, but this may also be set such that the occurrence rate oflight intensities in the large region and in the small region is madesmaller, that is, it may be made narrower statistically.

The method of calculating the evaluation values and the methods forselecting the variation width of light intensities and variation regionsmay be methods other than those in the above-described examples.

Embodiment 6

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a lighting control system according tothe present invention. In FIG. 6, description concerns controllingillumination of predetermined locations based on three light sources,light sources 10 a, 10 b, and 10 c.

In FIG. 6, a lighting device 11 a has a transmitter-receiver portion 111a, a judgment control portion 112 a, and the light source 10 a. Alighting device 11 b has a transmitter-receiver portion 111 b, ajudgment control portion 112 b, and the light source 10 b. A lightingdevice 11 c has a transmitter-receiver portion 111 c, a judgment controlportion 112 c, and the light source 10 c. The light sources 10 a, 10 b,and 10 c are respectively connected to the judgment control portions 112a, 112 b, and 112 c, and the light intensities of the light sources 10a, 10 b, and 10 c are respectively controlled. The light sources 10 a,10 b, and 10 c illuminate an interior of a room.

The illumination comparing device 121 has the illumination samplingportions 122 x and 122 y that include sensors for detecting theillumination of a predetermined position X and position Y, anillumination information storage portion 121, and judgment resulttransmitter portions 124 a, 124 b, and 124 c. The illuminationinformation storage portion 121 stores illumination informationindicating target illuminations corresponding to the positions X and Y.The illumination information is given as Lxs and Lys. A judgment portion123 examines the target illuminations Lxs and Lys corresponding to thesampled illumination Lx of the position X detected by the illuminationsampling portion 122 x and the sampled illumination Ly of the position Xdetected by the illumination sampling portion 122 y and judges whetheror not Lxs and Lx and Lys and Ly meet the predetermined condition, thatis, whether or not these are in a constant relation. In accordance withthe judgment result, the illumination comparing device 12 transmitsjudgment result information Da, Db, and Dc through the judgment resulttransmitter portions 124 a, 124 b, and 124 c respectively.

The transmitter-receiver portion 111 a receives the judgment resultinformation Da and sends it to the judgment control portion 112 a. Inaccordance with the judgment result information Da, the judgment controlportion 112 a maintains, increases, or decreases the light intensity ofthe light source 10 a. The transmitter-receiver portion 111 b receivesthe judgment result information Db and sends it to the judgment controlportion 112 b. In accordance with the judgment result information Db,the judgment control portion 112 b maintains, increases, or decreasesthe light intensity of the light source 10 b. The transmitter-receiverportion 111 c receives the judgment result information Dc and sends itto the judgment control portion 112 c. In accordance with the judgmentresult information Dc, the judgment control portion 112 c maintains,increases, or decreases the light intensity of the light source 10 c.

When there is a single illumination sampling portion in the lightingcontrol system of the present invention, the aforementioned judgmentcontrol portion carries out a predetermined judgment and judges that thepredetermined condition is met when the aforementioned sampledillumination is in a constant relation with the aforementioned targetillumination and judges that the predetermined condition is unmet whenthe aforementioned sampled illumination is not in a constant relationwith the aforementioned target illumination. When there are two or moreillumination sampling portions as shown in FIG. 6, the judgment controlportions 112 a, 112 b, and 112 c judge as a predetermined judgment thatthe predetermined condition is met when all of the sampled illuminationsLx and Ly are in a constant relation with the corresponding targetilluminations Lxs and Lys, and judge that the predetermined condition isunmet when even one of these is not in a constant relation.

In regard to “in a constant relation” above, this state is called “OK”when the sampled illuminations of the positions are larger than thetarget illumination indicated by illumination information of thosepositions, and in particular is deemed “in a constant relation” when allthe positions are “OK,” and deemed “not in a constant relation” wheneven one position is not “OK.” In the case of FIG. 6, “OK” is when thesampled illuminations Lx and Ly are respectively larger than thecorresponding target illuminations Lxs and Lys, and in this case theaforementioned predetermined amount of light variation is set as anamount of light reduction.

Next, a procedure for regulating to a desired illumination is describedusing the flowchart shown in FIG. 8. Before starting, one step of lightreduction, which is a predetermined amount of light variation of thelight sources, is obtained. First, all the light sources are set to amaximum light intensity. Then, one light source is selected and set as alight source j. The light source j carries out light reduction until onesensor, that is, one illumination sampling portion becomes “NG.” Here,“NG” is when the detected illuminations Lx and Ly of the sensors fallbelow the illumination information Lxs and Lys set in each sensor. “OK”is when these exceed the illumination information. Furthermore, theinitial light intensity of the light source j is called the “currentlight intensity” and the light intensity after light reduction is calledthe “threshold light intensity,” and when the difference thereof isgiven as a “width of light intensity difference,” the next lightintensity is expressed as “next light intensity”=“current lightintensity”−“width of light intensity difference”/N (N is usually set toapproximately 4 to 8, but there is not limitation to this). One step isset as “width of light intensity difference”/N=“amount of lightvariation.” Accordingly, in a single time of light reduction processing,the light intensity of the light source j is not reduced to thethreshold light intensity at which a given sensor becomes “NG,” but isreduced to a light intensity considerably brighter than that. In otherwords, one step of light reduction is set to a sufficiently small step.When there is no illumination sampling portion that becomes “NG” evenwhen the light intensity of the light source j is set to the minimum,that minimum light intensity is employed as the threshold lightintensity. With this procedure, an amount of light variation that is onestep of light reduction for each lighting device is obtained and storedin each judgment control portion for light variation control. In Lightvariation control hereafter, in the light reduction processinghereinafter in the case of the present embodiment, light reduction iscarried out in accordance with this step.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing lighting control according to the presentembodiment. In the flowchart of FIG. 8, at first all the light sourcesare set to a maximum light intensity (S80). Then, one lighting device isselected and set as the lighting device j (S81). The lighting device jcarries out light variation control, that is, carries out lightreduction (S82 and S83) in the present embodiment until one sensor, thatis, one illumination sampling portion becomes “NG.” Here, “NG” is whenthe detected illuminations Lx and Ly of the sensors fall below theillumination information Lxs and Lys set in each sensor. “OK” is whenthese exceed the illumination information.

When there is a “YES” at S83, the light intensities of the light sourcesother than the lighting device j is lowered one step. At S85, adetermination is made as to whether or not the sensors of all theillumination sampling portions have become “NG” and if this is “NO,”then at S87 the light intensity of the lighting device j is raised onestep and the light intensities of the light sources other than thelighting device j are all raised two steps. These are return control ina direction reverse to the light variation direction of light reductionprocessing. Furthermore, the sensors of all the illumination samplingportions becoming “NG” corresponds to all the sampled illuminationsfalling below all the corresponding target illuminations, that is tosay, an inverse relation to the aforementioned “in a constant relation.”In other words, compared to a state in which the predetermined conditionis being met, this corresponds to the large-small relation of theaforementioned sampled illuminations and the corresponding targetilluminations becoming reverse at the positions of all the illuminationsampling portions. When all the sensors do not become “OK,” the lightintensity is raised a further one step. Then, in S88, a light sourceother than the lighting device j is selected and set as j. Lightvariation control (S82) and determination (S83) are executed on thenewly selected lighting device j.

When the above steps are repeated and a YES occurs at S85, theilluminations at all the illumination sampling portions approach theillumination information Lxs and Lys, and therefore the lightintensities of all the light sources are all raised one step at S86. Inthis way, the sensors of all the illumination sampling portions canrespectively reach a condition closest to a minimal illumination thatdoes not become “NG,” that is, a desired illumination. The illuminationsat the positions of the illumination sampling portions converge to anillumination within one step of error from the target illuminationaccording to the illumination information.

It should be emphasized that if the maximum light intensity of the lightsources 10 a, 10 b, and 10 c is low, then with the above-describedprocedure, the target illuminations Lsx and Lys may not be able to beregulated at the desired illumination. It should also be emphasized thatwhen the number of light sources is small and the number of illuminationsampling portions is large, the illumination at all the positions maynot be able to be regulated according to the target illuminations.Furthermore, it should be emphasized that when extremely highilluminations or low illuminations are included in a portion of theillumination information of the target illuminations, it may not bepossible to regulate at the desired illumination unless the light sourceis arranged in an appropriate position. In other words, if it isoriginally possible to achieve an illumination distribution byregulating the light intensities of the light sources, then a desiredillumination distribution is achievable using the above-describedprocedure. Furthermore, even for larger errors with respect to thetarget illumination, it is possible to approach the target illumination.

In the above-described embodiment 6, while the lighting devices 11 a, 11b, and 11 c carry out light reduction control on the light intensitiesof their respective light sources based on a self-decided step usingonly “OK” and “NG” information that they have been given, an overalldesired illumination distribution is achieved.

It should be noted that when determining the size of one step and whenselecting the lighting device j from among the lighting devices, theorder may be decided by negotiation among the lighting devices asdescribed in embodiment 1, or instructions may be given by the judgmentportion 123 using the judgment result transmitter portions 124 a, 124 b,and 124 c.

The judgment portion 123 is unaware of the light intensity of each ofthe lighting devices, and therefore judgment of “OK” and “NG” arecarried out using only the illumination information. The judgmentresults are ordinarily achieved in one for one group of illuminationinformation (Lx, Ly, Lxs, and Lys), and therefore only one of thejudgment result transmitter portions 124 a, 124 b, and 124 c may beprovided such that the judgment results are transmitted to all thelighting devices. The judgment control portion of each lighting devicejudges how to control the light intensity of the light source accordingto the received judgment result and information such as the extend oflight variation relating to its own light intensity.

Furthermore, instead of the illumination comparing device 12 in FIG. 6,the illumination comparing devices 12 x and 12 y of FIG. 1 may beprovided and the above-described “OK” and “NG” judgments carried out bythe illumination comparing device 12 may be carried out inside thejudgment control portions 112 a, 112 b, and 112 c of the lightingdevices 11 a, 11 b, and 11 c.

Furthermore, when a plurality of illumination comparing devices 12 areprovided, the judgment control portions 112 a, 112 b, and 112 c of thelighting devices 11 a, 11 b, and 11 c respectively acquire a pluralityof judgment results. From the plurality of acquired judgment results, itis possible to judge whether the relation of all the sampledilluminations of all the illumination sampling portions and therespective corresponding target illuminations are in a constant relationor not in a constant relation. That is, when the plurality of judgmentresults are all in a constant relation, the entirety thereof is also ina constant relation and when there is even one that is not in a constantrelation, the entirety thereof is not in a constant relation as a whole.

In the present embodiment, the size of the amount of light variation maybe changed in the process of approaching the target illumination. Forexample, at S85 in FIG. 8, the extent of light variation of the lightingdevice j may be made smaller each time there is a “NO.” By doing this,the extent of light variation is larger at first, thus it is possible toapproach the vicinity of the target illumination rapidly and controlover the light intensity can be made more precise during the approach,and therefore it is possible to more accurately constrict and convergethe illuminations to the target illumination. To do this, each of thelighting devices can count the number of times of looping at S85.

At the return control of S87 in FIG. 8, the size of the one step and twosteps when raising the light intensities may be the latest predeterminedamount of light variation held by the respective lighting devices or maybe a value smaller than that.

In contrast to embodiment 1 where the light intensities of the lightingdevices without exception were gradually lowered, the present embodimentis a system by which the lighting devices are made to rapidly approachuntil the vicinity of the threshold light intensity at the initialstage, after which correction is performed to approach the targetillumination. Although lighting devices that are less than the finallight intensity occur during control, return control is carried out atS87 and light intensities that have dropped excessively are rectified.

The following is also possible as a variation on the procedure of thepresent embodiment. In the flowchart of FIG. 8, S84, S85, and S86 aredeleted, and the procedure proceeds to S87 when there is a YES at S83,then at S87 the light intensities of all the lighting devices are raisedone step and when all the sensors do not become OK, the lightintensities are raised further one step at a time until all sensorsbecome OK. That is, return control is carried out until theaforementioned predetermined condition is met. When doing this, one ofthe lighting devices is always carrying out light reduction processingeven when there is a stable condition. When making the amount of lightvariation smaller in accordance with the approach to the targetillumination, flickering in the illumination due to light reductionprocessing is made smaller such that it is possible to make itunnoticeable to humans.

In the present embodiment, description was given concerning a case inwhich light reduction processing is carried out as light variationcontrol, but it is also possible to reach an illumination close to thetarget illumination with light-increase processing in which light isincreased gradually from the direction of small light intensities. Inthis case, the aforementioned predetermined amount of light variation isset to an amount of light reduction and the return control is set tocontrol in a light-increase direction.

Embodiment 7

In the lighting control system in embodiment 7 shown in FIG. 7, theillumination comparing device 12 is provided with three illuminationsampling portions 122 x, 122 y, and 122 z. The illumination samplingportions 122 x, 122 y, and 122 z are arranged on a wall surface 13 onwhich the desired illumination is desired to be set, and theillumination information is sent to the judgment portion 123 inside theillumination comparing device 12, which is in a distant position. Forexample, this can be applied for illumination of painting artworks at amuseum. In this way, it is preferable that the illumination samplingportions 122 x, 122 y, and 122 z are installed at positions where thedesired illumination is desired to be set. The illumination samplingportions 122 x, 122 y, and 122 z and the illumination comparing device12 may be connected by wireless communications.

Embodiment 8

In the control procedure of FIG. 8, when an extremely small illuminationis included among the illumination information Lxs, Lys, and so oncorresponding to the desired illuminations, even when the lightintensity of the lighting device j is progressively lowered in S82 andset to the minimum light intensity that the light source is capable ofproducing, there may be times when there is no YES at S83 since thelight from the other light sources is strong. There may be times whenthe optimal state of convergence is a state in which the lightintensities of light sources other than the lighting device j are setextremely small to set the lighting device j to an appropriateillumination. When the light intensities of the light sources other thanthat of the lighting device j are still large and the aforementionedpredetermined condition remains unchanged even when the lighting devicej is set to the minimum illumination it can produce or an illuminationone step above that, the NO remains unchanged at S83 such thatextrication from the loop cannot be achieved. For this reason, it is notpossible to advance to an optimal state of convergence. To prevent sucha situation, the control procedure shown in FIG. 9 is used.

In the control procedure flowchart in FIG. 9, S81 and S88 of FIG. 8 arechanged to S91 and S98 and further steps S100 and S101 are added. AtS91, one lighting device j is selected and the setting value of thelight intensity of that time is stored. At S100, a determination is madeas to whether or not the light intensity of the lighting device j is theminimum light intensity that can be produced. If this is NO, then thelight intensity is lowered one step (S92). If this is YES, then thelight intensity cannot be lowered any more. Such a condition comes aboutbecause the light intensities of the other light sources are too strong,and therefore the light intensity of the lighting device j is returnedto a light intensity one step lower than the setting value of the storedlight intensity (S101). Next, at S98, another light source is selected,the lighting device thereof is set as j, and the light intensity of thenew lighting device j is stored. Then, the procedure of S100 to S93 isexecuted with descending light intensities on the new lighting device j.By doing this, when a light source having an exceedingly excessive lightintensity is reached, the illumination thereof is loweredpreferentially, and the light intensities of such light sources havingexcessive light intensities can be lowered in order, and it is possibleto achieve the process of convergence, that is, to proceed through steps92 to 97 using the principle of the procedure described in FIG. 8.

Embodiment 9

Next, a procedure is described by which the convergence using thecontrol procedures of FIGS. 8 and 9 can be made faster. In the controlprocedures of FIGS. 8 and 9, in order to make the illumination in eachposition, that is, in each of the illumination sampling portionssufficiently close to the target illumination, it is necessary to makesmaller the width of the amount of light variation of one step. In thiscase, the illumination of each position is made to approach the targetillumination in small increments and convergence cannot be achievedunless the loop in the flowcharts of FIGS. 8 and 9 are repeated amultitude of times.

Accordingly, at the first loop procedure prior to becoming YES initiallyat S85 and S95 after starting, the amount of light variation of one stepis set larger. For example, when the resolving power of light intensitycapable of being set for the light sources has 100 gradations between amaximum light intensity Lmax and zero, then initially one step is set to20 gradations. That is, the unit is 20% of the maximum light intensity.At the stage where S86 and S96 are reached, there is error in theilluminations of the illumination sampling portions roughly of up to 20gradations with respect to the target illumination. In this condition,the procedure returns to S81 in FIG. 8 or S91 in FIG. 9 and one step isreduced to five gradations so that the loop procedure is executed untilthere is a YES at S85 and S95. Next, one step is reduced to onegradation and the loop procedure is executed until there is a YES at S85and S95. With a method such as this in which the precision of control isincreased in accordance with the overall approach to the targetillumination, convergence can be achieved rapidly.

In embodiment 6, the N that has been described may be set to a largevalue in accordance with convergence to make the amount of lightvariation smaller.

Embodiment 10

In the foregoing embodiments 6, 7, 8, and 9, communication between thelighting devices 11 a, 11 b, and 11 c was not absolutely necessary. Anembodiment 10, in which cooperation between the lighting devices isimplemented, is described using FIG. 10.

In FIG. 10, lighting devices 50 a, 50 b, and 50 c to 50 h arerespectively lighting devices such as the lighting device 11 a in FIG.6. The transmitter-receiver portions of the lighting devices areconnected by communications paths shown by dashed lines andcommunications can be carried out between each of the lighting devices.An illumination comparing device 52 receives from three illuminationsampling portions 51 x, 51 y, and 51 z and can send information of thecomparison results to the lighting devices 50 a to 50 h.

First, the lighting devices measure one step of light reduction. Thelighting device 50 a declares that it will conduct measuring of theamount of light variation and transmits a request telegram (the datastructure and other details of the request telegram are not a concernhere) to the destination addresses of the other lighting devices for themaximum light intensity to be set. Having received the request telegram,the lighting devices return an acknowledgment reply telegram (the datastructure and other details of the reply telegram are not a concernhere) as long as they are not currently conducting measurement of theamount of light variation, and set to the maximum light intensity. If alighting device is currently conducting measurement of the amount oflight variation, it replies to that effect. If the lighting device 50 adoes not receive a telegram within a fixed time informing of conductingmeasurement of the amount of light variation, a judgment is made thatmeasurement of the width of light intensity difference is possible, andthe lighting device 50 a gradually carries out light reduction from themaximum light intensity, and when an “NG” is received from theillumination comparing device 52, light reduction is stopped and thelight intensity of that time is set as the threshold light intensity.(Current light intensity−threshold light intensity), in this case,(maximum light intensity−threshold light intensity) becomes the width oflight intensity difference. Width of light intensity difference/N isstored as one step of the amount of light variation. When the lightingdevice 50 a finishes measuring the amount of light variation, it sends atelegram of completion of measuring of the amount of light variation tothe other lighting devices. Having received the telegram of completionof measuring of the amount of light variation, the other lightingdevices, if they have not finished measuring of the amount of lightvariation, declare that they will measure the amount of light variationand transmit a request telegram for the maximum light intensity to beset and carry out measurement of the amount of light variation in thesame manner. When measurement of the amount of light variation isunfinished, a telegram that measurement of the amount of light variationis unfinished is periodically sent to the other lighting devices. Thisprocedure progresses and when, within a fixed time, there is a state inwhich there is no telegram that measurement of the amount of lightvariation is unfinished, a transition is made to light reductionprocessing to adjust the illumination distribution.

The illumination comparing device 52 inquires to the lighting devices 50a to 50 h as to whether or not measurement of the amount of lightvariation is finished. When there no reply of being unfinished, theillumination comparing device 52 carries out communication with thelighting devices 50 a to 50 h and issues a telegram inquiring as towhether or not light reduction permission information Dp is held, andwhen there are a plurality of Dp present, only one lighting device ispermitted to hold this information, and when there are no Dp, onelighting device among the lighting devices 50 a to 50 h is selected andlight reduction permission information Dp is sent. A lighting devicethat possesses Dp can conduct light reduction by one step that it itselfis storing. When a fixed time Ts has elapsed after the execution of itsown light reduction, the lighting device that possesses Dp randomlyselects another lighting device and transmits Dp to pass on Dp. Thelighting device that receives Dp acquires the right to conduct lightreduction processing and after conducting one step of light reductionprocessing, passes on Dp to another lighting device. In this way, thelighting devices 50 a to 50 h randomly proceed to conduct lightreduction processing.

On the other hand, the illumination comparing device 52 compares theilluminations of the three positions occupied by the illuminationsampling portions 51 x, 51 y, and 51 z and the illumination information,and notifies “NG” to all of the lighting devices 50 a to 50 h when an“NG” is detected. When they receive the “NG”, the lighting devices 50 ato 50 h increase their light intensities by one step. When an “NG” isagain notified after a fixed time T, the lighting devices 50 a to 50 hagain increase their light intensities by one step. In other words, thelighting devices 50 a to 50 h are made to increase their lightintensities until there is no “NG” position.

It should be noted that the lighting device that possesses Dp may waitto execute the Dp, that is, execute light reduction processing, untilthere is no notification of “NG.”

When executing the above-described procedure, no “NG” is produced atfirst since the light intensities of the lighting devices 50 a to 50 hare large, but in accordance with the approach to the desiredillumination distribution, many “NG”s are produced. Each time an “NG” isproduced, in a state where the light intensities of all the lightingdevices are returned (light-increasing) by one step, the light intensityof any other lighting-device that still has a possibility of excessivelight intensity is progressively or randomly selected and lowered,thereby enabling the desired illumination distribution to be approachedas a whole.

The aforementioned fixed time Ts can be set to a time allowing extratime for the light intensity of the light source of the lighting deviceto become stable and for anticipation of a delay time until “NG”notification and reception from illumination sampling.

Even after sufficiently approaching the illumination distribution, thelighting device that acquires Dp carries out light reduction processing,and therefore an “NG” is produced and the lighting devices repeat lightreduction and light-increasing. That is, there is no state of completestability, but this becomes a state of quasi-stability. If the size ofthe one step is sufficiently small, the flickering of illumination atthe three positions is unnoticeable to humans.

Furthermore, if the pattern in which “NG” and “OK” are produced is in apredetermined range, the light intensities of the lighting devices maybe fixed as being stable and deemed a state of complete stability. Forexample, this may be when “NG” and “OK” become alternating, or when thefrequency of occurrences of “NG” and “OK” within a fixed short timebecomes substantially equivalent. In such cases, the illuminationcomparing device 52 transmits a command to the lighting devices 50 a to50 h for the light intensities to be fixed. Processing may also bepaused by manually sending a “control pause” signal. In this case,control can be restarted by sending a “control restart” signal asrequired.

Embodiment 11

In the foregoing embodiments, if the light intensity setting values ofthe light sources and lighting devices converged on the desiredillumination distribution are stored, then prior to a performance or thelike, the desired illumination distribution can be achieved quickly byreading out the stored setting values and setting the light intensities.Also, by storing the light intensity setting values of the light sourcesand lighting devices at an arbitrary stage of the convergence processand then reading out the stored setting values and setting the lightintensities, the convergence procedure can commence from that stage suchthat the desired illumination distribution can be reached very rapidly.

Embodiment 12

In the foregoing embodiments, if the light intensity setting values ofthe light sources and lighting devices in the convergence process towardthe desired illumination distribution and the sampled illuminations ofthe illumination sampling portions are displayed on a display, thestatus of the convergence operation can be confirmed. Moreover, if thetarget illuminations of the illumination sampling portions are displayedon a display, the progress status until convergence can be grasped.

Embodiment 13

Next, a lighting control system in which communication between thelighting devices is unnecessary is described. A plurality of lightingdevices respectively carry out light variation control separately inparallel. The amount of light variation for light variation control ischanged randomly for each of the lighting devices. When a lightingdevice is judged to be not meeting the aforementioned predeterminedcondition based on the comparison results and judgment results from theillumination comparing device, all the lighting devices respectivelycarry out return control to the light intensity prior to the lightvariation control. After one time of the return control, usually areturn is made to the predetermined condition being met, but when thisreturn does not occur, return control is again carried out until areturn is made to the predetermined condition being met. Next, lightvariation control is again carried out with a random amount of lightvariation. By doing this, return control may sometimes increasetemporarily due to excessive light variation, but eventually the sampledilluminations can be made to approach the target illumination.

The aforementioned “random” includes cases such as the following.Namely, the lighting devices may carry out light variation control suchthat while the light intensity is arbitrary increased/reduced, onaverage there is light reduction or light increases in one direction. Inthis case, the light intensities of the light sources may temporarilychange to a reverse direction. In other words, the amount of lightvariation used may be any of a positive, negative, or zero value.

Furthermore, it is also possible to arbitrarily change the size of theamount of light variation in light variation control without changingthe direction thereof. In other words, the amount of light variation maybe either one of zero or a positive/negative value. In this case, thelight intensities change in one direction except when there is returncontrol.

The differential illumination of the sampled illumination and the targetillumination is sent to all the lighting devices from the illuminationcomparing device and the lighting devices may make smaller the value ofthe amount of light variation randomly changed in response to smallerdifferential illuminations received. The amount of light intensity forreturn may be made smaller when conducting return control for smallerdifferential illuminations. By doing this, constriction to the targetillumination can be achieved rapidly and flickering of the illuminationin a constricted state can be made smaller.

As described above, instead of conducting return control until the lightintensity prior to light variation control, return control may beconducted by only a predetermined amount of light. The amount of lightintensity for return when conducting return control may be variedrandomly. Since there are times when the aforementioned predeterminedcondition cannot be met in one time, the return control is carried outuntil there is a return to a state in which the predetermined conditionis met. The differential illumination of the sampled illumination andthe target illumination is sent to all the lighting devices from theillumination comparing device and the lighting devices may reduce theamount of return light intensity in the return control in response tosmaller differential illuminations received. When the amount of returnlight intensity in this return control is randomly varied, the amount oflight variation for light variation control may be a fixed amount oflight or may be an amount of light according to the above-describeddifferential illumination without being varied randomly.

Other Embodiments and Supplement Notes

In addition to a loop-type network, a mesh-type network in whichcommunications can be carried out between the lighting devicesrespectively, a star-type network, wired communications, wirelesscommunications and the like can be applied to the communications betweenthe lighting devices 50 a to 50 h in the above-described embodiment 10.Furthermore, a central device that manages all the lighting devices maybe arranged in an appropriate location in the network. For example, fora star-type network, a central device that manages all the lightingdevices may be arranged in a central position in the network. For thenetwork communications for these devices, communication protocols suchas those for commonly known LAN, wireless LAN, infrared LAN, Bluetooth(registered trademark) system, Power Line Communication, or eco-net maybe used, or a portion of these protocols may be used.

The illumination comparing device 52 was configured to communicate withthe respective lighting devices 50 a to 50 h, but it is possible for itto communicate only with the lighting device 50 a and for the lightingdevice 50 a to manage the information of the other lighting devices 50 bto 50 h. When the above-described central device is provided, theillumination comparing device 52 may communicate with the centraldevice.

In the above-described embodiment 10, the illumination comparing device52 may issue multiple instances of the light reduction permissioninformation Dp. By arranging that the lighting devices cannot carry outlight reduction processing even when possessing Dp until there is nomore “NG”s, there is no excessive application of light reductionprocessing. The Dp may be set such that each lighting device can onlyhold one, or the maximum number to be held may be limited and any Dpexceeding that may be set to be forwarded to another lighting device.For a plurality of Dp that are held, only one of these can be used inone time of light reduction processing.

In the above-described embodiment 10, the lighting devices were set torandomly generate a transmission destination address for the Dp, but theDp may be transmitted to a neighboring lighting device in accordancewith the connection order in FIG. 10.

In the foregoing embodiments, as described in embodiment 10, the lightreduction processing may be set to wait for a fixed time Ts before beingcarried out in consideration of a stabilization time for the lightintensities of the light sources. Fundamentally, in the foregoingembodiments, each process was described as being performedasynchronously, but the overall system may be configured to operatesynchronously in accordance with slots of the time T.

In the foregoing embodiments, a time axis and an amplitude axis (lightintensity and illumination) were described as a discrete system, but oneor both of the time axis and amplitude axis may be configured ascontinuous system. For example, by giving the light reduction rateinstead of one-steps of the lighting devices and the light-increase rateinstead of one-steps of simultaneous light-increase processing, andcarrying out light-increase processing during “NG”s and carrying outlight reduction processing during “OK”s, it is possible to regulate tothe desired illumination distribution using the same principle.

In Embodiment 10, as also described in Embodiment 9, as the occurrencefrequency distribution of “OK” and “NG” approach, one step lightintensity difference may be made smaller. Furthermore, when multipleinstances of Dp are issued, as the occurrence frequency distribution of“OK” and “NG” approach, the number of Dp issued may be reduced. Thisjudgment and processing can be carried out by the illumination comparingdevice 52.

Each one step of light reduction may be decided in accordance with theresolving power of the light intensity capable of being produced by thelight sources and the lighting devices.

In the foregoing embodiments, the width of control for each light sourceand the value of one step are not necessarily according to the variousabove-described calculations and described methods, and it is possibleto use other values within an appropriate range. The case in which thepredetermined amount of light variation is reduced in response toreductions in the differential illumination of the sampled illuminationand the target illumination has already been touched upon. A methodother than this for reducing the predetermined amount of light variationas constriction advances may be a method such as the following. Eachlighting device may total the number of times of light variation controland reduce the predetermined amount of light variation as the number oftimes of light variation control becomes larger. Also, each lightingdevice may reduce the predetermined amount of light variation as timepasses from the commencement of control. It may be judged thatconvergence is advancing as the frequency of light variation control andreturn control approach on average.

A procedure for determining the predetermined amount of light variationfrom the initial light intensity and the threshold light intensity, forexample the procedure of S23 and S24 in FIG. 2, was described as beingexecuted each time prior to the lighting devices carrying out lightvariation control, but this may be set to be carried out one time foreach of a given number of times of light variation control.

The amount of light variation of light intensity in the return controlof the lighting devices may be the same size as the predetermined amountof light variation in the light variation control, but it may also be adifferent size. Furthermore, the amount of light variation of lightintensity in the return control of the lighting devices may be a valuerespectively decided for each lighting device. Likewise for thepredetermined amount of light variation, the amount of light variationof light intensity in the return control of the lighting devices may beset to a small value as constriction advances. Furthermore, whenconducting the return control, it is possible to return to the amount oflight prior to carrying out light variation control.

In the above-described embodiments, the light intensity of the lightingdevices is subjected to light reduction from a maximum light intensity,but as has already been touched upon, it is also possible to increaselight from a minimum light intensity. For example, in embodiment 6, “OK”and “NO” may be defined in an inverse large-small relation.

Furthermore, it is also possible to commence processing after settingthe initial light intensity of the lighting devices to an appropriatelight intensity intermediate to the maximum light intensity and theminimum light intensity. In this case, when the relation between thesampled illumination and the target illumination in the current lightintensity state of all the lighting devices are not all in a constantrelation, the light intensities of all the lighting devices may bechanged each time by an appropriate light intensity in a reversedirection to the light variation direction for light variation controlof the light intensities, that is, subjected to return control, and theselection of the lighting device j in the foregoing embodiments may beset to commence in the process of light variation processing for thatlight intensity once the relations of the sampled illuminations and thetarget illuminations are all a constant relation. By doing this,constriction to the target illumination can be achieved rapidly.

In the foregoing embodiments 1 to 4 and 6 to 12, description was givenof light reduction processing or light variation processing beingcarried out with a single lighting device j each time, but when thereare a multitude of lighting appliances, light variation control may becarried out by a plurality of lighting devices in parallel. For example,after light variation control has been carried out by at least oneselected lighting device, for example a plurality of lighting devicesand when the predetermined judgment of the selected lighting device isthat the predetermined condition is met, lighting devices including atleast one lighting device other than the selected lighting devices areselected and the light variation control and the predetermined judgmentby the judgment control portion are carried out in the selected lightingdevices. When the predetermined judgment after the light variationcontrol is that the predetermined condition is not met, the lightingdevices including at least one of the selected lighting devices carryout the return control in order to meet the predetermined condition.Combined with the aforementioned process, the sample illumination ismade to approach the target illumination. It is preferable for theselected lighting devices to be different devices each time, but theymay include a portion of the same lighting devices. The lighting devicesto carry out the return control can be set to any of the selectedlighting devices, that is, the lighting devices that have immediatelyprior carried out light variation control, a portion thereof and otherlighting devices, or all the lighting devices.

That is to say, in the lighting control system according to the presentinvention, the light variation control may be carried out by selectingany of the two or more lighting devices, and the selection can be freelychanged and selected without any particular constraint to the priorselection. The same is true for the return control. Furthermore, inregard to the amount of light variation in light variation control andreturn control and the amount of return control, except for thevariation direction in the lighting devices, it is possible to variousdegrees to approach the target illumination using any arbitrary sizewithout any stringent restrictions, and therefore flexible system designis possible. There are various algorithms of selection, but theaforementioned negotiation can be achieved fundamentally.

From the point of view of power saving, a method in which the timedensity for supplying power to the light sources, such as invertercontrol or triac control, is preferable for controlling the lightintensities of the lighting devices. In this case, the instantaneouslight intensity involves repeating in alternation the maximum lightintensity and the minimum light intensity, that is, repeating inalternation a light on state and a light off state. The mean lightintensity is controlled for the lighting devices. The instantaneousillumination sampled by the illumination sampling portion varies widelyin accordance with the instantaneous light intensity, and thereforevalues in which the instantaneous illumination is smoothed are requiredto be used as the sampled illumination.

The illumination comparing devices may be arranged in predeterminedfixed positions in a hall or a conference room, for example hangingmidway between the ceiling and the floor, but they may also be movableto arbitrary positions of the hall or conference room as small sizedevices such as remote control devices. By doing this, the illuminationof the arbitrary positions can be controlled to desired values. Forexample, a specified position on a conference table can be set to adesired brightness. Furthermore, a user can set the target illumination.

The lighting sampling portion may be set as a sensor that measures theillumination using one direction or a specified direction of light. Byproviding in positions X and Y a plurality of lighting sampling portionshaving such directivity and sampling the illumination, then transmittingthe comparison results with the respective target illuminations to thelighting devices, the arrival direction characteristics of the lightingin the respective positions X and Y can be controlled to have desiredcharacteristics. By carrying out a primary judgment inside theillumination comparing device as shown in the judgment portion of FIG. 6on the illuminations measured by a plurality of sensors having differentdirectivity, then collecting the primary judgment results received fromthe plurality of illumination comparing devices at the lighting devices,a secondary judgment may be carried out at the judgment control portion.

As described in embodiment 11, when the illumination at each positionhas sufficiently approached the target illumination, flickering of theillumination may be removed by pausing light reduction processing. Tothis end, in each embodiment, the lighting devices receive from each ofthe illumination comparing devices information of the difference betweenthe current illumination and the target illumination, and the size ofthe difference information is determined at the lighting devices, andwhen all have become sufficiently small values, light reductionprocessing may be set to be paused. Also, light reduction processing maybe set to be paused after a time has elapsed that is several timeslarger than a maximum time Tmax required for convergence.

In order to commence light reduction processing in each of theembodiments, a start button may be provided in the illuminationcomparing device and a notification may be given of the commencement ofthe above-described procedure to all the lighting devices and the otherillumination comparing devices by broadcast communications when thebutton is pushed.

Once a state of convergence has been achieved, the respective lightintensities of that time are stored such that even when the power to allthe lighting devices is cut, the light intensities can be reproducedwhen the power is again turned on. Furthermore, when the differencebetween the sampled illumination and the target illumination in theillumination comparing device becomes too large, the light intensitiesof all the lighting devices are changed by return control by anappropriate light intensity in a direction reverse to the lightvariation direction in light variation control, and the selection of thelighting device j in the foregoing embodiments may be set to commence inthe process of variation processing for its light intensity once therelations of the sampled illuminations and the target illuminations areall set to a constant relation. By doing this, it is possible to reachthe target illumination in a shorter time than again conducting all theprocesses from the beginning.

In the foregoing embodiments, the process of multiple light reductionprocessing may be combined. That is, the light reduction processing of aparticular embodiment may proceed at first and at a stage where thetarget illumination is approached, a transition may be made to lightreduction processing according to another embodiment.

When described for a case in which light reduction processing is carriedout with light variation control, the above lighting control systemaccording to the present invention is provided with a first procedure ofsetting the light intensities of a plurality of lighting devices so thatsampled illuminations of predetermined positions illuminated by theplurality of lighting devices become larger than the targetilluminations, a second procedure of selecting a lighting device j andlowering its light intensity by light variation control, a thirdprocedure of conducting light increases using return control on thelight intensities of a plurality of lighting device including thelighting device j when the sampled illuminations become smaller than thetarget illuminations and making the sampled illuminations larger thanthe target illuminations, and a fourth procedure of selecting a lightingdevice other than the lighting device j and lowering its light intensityusing light variation control, and the target illuminations are achievedby proceeding with these procedures in an appropriate order. Whentransitioning from the second procedure to the fourth procedure, thereis a method of not going through the third procedure and a method ofgoing through the third procedure. The method of not going through thethird procedure was described in embodiment 1, and therefore this is amethod in which the light intensities of the lighting devices arelowered in order without exception. The method of going through thethird procedure was described in embodiment 6, and therefore this ismethod in which the light intensities of the lighting devices arelowered quickly to the threshold light intensity. It should be notedthat the first procedure and the third procedure can be seen asfundamentally the same category of procedure. Also, the second procedureand the fourth procedure can be viewed as fundamentally the same type ofprocedure. Accordingly, distinctive elements of the lighting controlsystem according to the present invention are evident in the thirdprocedure (or the first procedure) and the fourth procedure (or thesecond procedure) as well as in the techniques for judging the sampledilluminations and the target illuminations. The target illumination canbe approached using the fourth procedure and the target illumination canbe even better reached using the third procedure.

Embodiments of a Control System

The present invention is not limited to controlling light intensities oflight sources and using the above-described principles the control ofthe present invention can be applied to systems having objects ofcontrol other than light sources, control amounts other than lightintensities, observation information other than illumination, andreference information other than illumination information correspondingto observation information. Namely, for example, a control system can beachieved that has two or more control target devices and a judgmentdevice, wherein the judgment device is provided with a referenceinformation storage portion that stores reference information, anobservation information sampling portion that samples observationinformation, and a judgment portion that judges whether or not thereference information and the observation information meet apredetermined condition and a judgment result in the judgment portion issent to the two or more control target devices so that the controltarget devices can control the amount of control based on the judgmentresult, wherein the control includes variation control of varying acurrent control value by a predetermined control amount, return controlof returning in a reverse direction to the variation direction of thepredetermined control amount, or random control, and wherein when acontrol target device selected by the control target devices has ajudgment result that the received judgment result meets a predeterminedcondition, if a selection of the control target device is changed afterthe control amount is controlled, the observation information other thanillumination is subjected to control to approach the referenceinformation. Whether or not the predetermined condition is met, apredetermined control amount, variation control, return control, theorder of each control, and random control or the like can be decided byapplying the same solution as in the above-described embodiments.

FIG. 11 shows a structural view of one example of this embodiment. InFIG. 11, S is a control target device, a plurality of which areprovided. H is a judgment portion. K is a pairing of a referenceinformation storage portion that stores reference information and anobservation information sampling portion that samples observationinformation. In this example a plurality of the respective H and K areprovided. Ha and Hb are partial judgment portions and carry out judgmentfor a portion of the K. H carries out judgment with respect to the stateof all the K including the judgment results of the partial judgmentportions Ha and Hb. The details of the judgments are the same judgmentsas the predetermined judgments already described for the lightingcontrol system. Each S carries out variation control and return controlaccording to the judgment results of the judgment device. When thejudgment results of the partial judgment portions Ha and Hb areincluded, the judgment portion carries out the judgments for all the K,and therefore the judgment result of whichever H is the same.Accordingly, S may acquire a judgment result form whichever H. As shownby the arrows of the dashed lines, judgment results may be acquired froma specific H. Each S and each H may be arranged physically separated asin FIG. 11, and a single S and a single H may be integrated. When asingle S and a single H are integrated, the S thereof acquires judgmentresults from the H thereof. A portion or all of the H, Ha, Hb, and K maybe positioned dispersed and may be integrated. For example, one each ofthe K and the Ha may be integrated.

The number of K and H may be an arbitrary number of one or more. The Haand Hb may sometimes not be provided.

In a configuration the same as FIG. 11, the target object devices may becontrolled randomly with a control amount in the same manner asdescribed for the lighting control system.

Information transmission between each of the S and H and informationtransmission between the K and Ha/Hb as well as the K and H may be wiredtransmission and may be wireless transmission. Since it is not necessaryfor the devices to specify each other, broadcast communications can beapplied.

By reading portions that carry out control of amounts of light of alighting device and light source portions as “control target device,”portions that carry out judgment in judgment control devices in thelighting devices, comparing portions of the illumination comparingdevices, and judgment portions as “judgment portions of judgment devicesof a control system,” illumination sampling portion as “observationinformation sampling portion,” target illumination information as“reference information,” and illumination information storage portion as“reference information storage portion” respectively, theconfigurations, operations, and procedures described in the embodimentsof the lighting control system can be applied to the present controlsystem. Furthermore, a configuration such as that of FIG. 11 can also beapplied to a lighting control system.

Moreover, all the lighting control and control system processes in theaforementioned embodiments may be achieved by software. And suchsoftware may be distributed by way of a software download or the like.Furthermore, such software may be disseminated by being recorded on arecording medium such as a CD-ROM.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The lighting control system of the present invention is useful as alighting system capable of controlling a predetermined position to adesired illumination.

1.-32. (canceled)
 33. A control system, having two or more controltarget devices and one or more judgment devices, wherein the judgmentdevice is provided with a reference information storage portion thatstores reference information, an observation information samplingportion that samples observation information, and a judgment portionthat judges whether or not the reference information and the observationinformation meet a predetermined condition, and sends a judgment resultof the judgment portion to the two or more control target devices, thecontrol target devices can control a control amount based on thejudgment result and the control includes variation control, in which acurrent control value is changed by a predetermined control amount, andreturn control, in which a return is made to a reverse direction to adirection of change of a predetermined control amount, and the judgmentportion carries out a judgment as to whether or not the predeterminedcondition is met after at least one selected control target device fromthe control target devices carries out the variation control at leastone time, after which a control target device including at least onecontrol target device other than the selected control target device isselected and, after the variation control has been carried out at leastone time in the new selected control target device, the judgment portionof the selected control target device carries out the judgment and whenthe judgment portion judges that the predetermined condition is unmet,the control target devices including at least one of the selectedcontrol target devices carry out the return control to make theobservation information approach the reference information in order tomeet the predetermined condition.
 34. The control system according toclaim 33, wherein after at least one control target device is selectedand variation control is performed when the judgment result meets thepredetermined condition, and a control target device including at leastone control target device other than the selected control target deviceis selected and subjected to variation control when the predeterminedcondition is met, and when the predetermined condition becomes unmet,return control is performed with a control amount of the control targetdevices including at least one control target device other than theselected control target device to meet the predetermined condition,after which a control target device including at least one controltarget device other than the selected control target device is selectedand variation control is repeated to perform control such that all theobservation information is made to approach the corresponding referenceinformation.
 35. The control system according to claim 33, wherein atleast one control target device is selected and the variation control isperformed until the predetermined condition becomes unmet when thejudgment result meets the predetermined condition, and when thepredetermined condition becomes unmet, return control is performed witha control amount of the control target devices including at least onecontrol target device other than the selected control target device tomeet the predetermined condition, after which a control target deviceincluding at least at one control target device other than the selectedcontrol target device is selected and variation control is repeated toperform control such that all the observation information is made toapproach the corresponding reference information.
 36. The control systemaccording to claim 33, wherein at least one control target device isselected and the variation control is performed until the predeterminedcondition becomes unmet when the judgment result meets the predeterminedcondition, and when the predetermined condition becomes unmet, variationcontrol is performed on a control amount of all the control targetdevices excluding the selected control target devices, and when arelation reverse to the constant relation does not occur at all pointsof observation, control amounts of all the control target devicesexcluding the selected control target devices are subjected to returncontrol in a previous direction, and after the predetermined conditionbecomes met by return control being conducted on the control amounts ofthe selected control target devices in a previous direction, a controltarget device including at least at one control target device other thanthe selected control target device is selected and variation control isrepeated to perform control such that all the observation information ismade to approach the corresponding reference information.
 37. A controlsystem, being a control system having two or more control target devicesand one or more judgment devices, wherein the judgment device isprovided with a reference information storage portion that storesreference information, an observation information sampling portion thatsamples observation information, and a judgment portion that judgeswhether or not the reference information and the observation informationmeet a predetermined condition, and sends a judgment result of thejudgment portion to the two or more control target devices, the controltarget devices can control a control amount based on the judgment resultand the control includes variation control, in which a current controlvalue is changed by a predetermined control amount, and return control,in which a return is made to a reverse direction to a direction ofchange of a predetermined control amount, the control target devicesrespectively carry out the variation control and, after the variationcontrol, when the predetermined judgment is that a predeterminedcondition is unmet, the control target devices carry out the returncontrol in order to meet the predetermined condition, and theobservation information of the control target devices is made toapproach the reference information by setting an amount of variation inthe variation control as one of an amount varied randomly based on apredetermined amount of variation, an amount that is a return variationamount in the return control randomly varied, or an amount in which bothare randomly varied.
 38. The control system according to claim 33,wherein prior to selection of the control target devices, the controlamounts of all the control target devices are set to a maximum value ora minimum value in order to meet the predetermined condition, or returncontrol is conducted on the control amounts of all the control targetdevices to meet the predetermined condition.
 39. The control systemaccording to claim 33, wherein when the reference information storageportion stores a single set of reference information, and theobservation information sampling portion samples a single set ofobservation information, the judgment result is that the predeterminedcondition is met when the observation information and the correspondingreference information are in a constant relation, and the judgmentresult is that the predetermined condition is unmet when not in aconstant relation, and when the reference information storage portionstores two or more sets of reference information and the observationinformation sampling portion samples two or more sets of observationinformation, the judgment result is that the predetermined condition ismet when the two or more sets of observation information are all in aconstant relation with the corresponding two or more sets of referenceinformation, and the judgment result is that the predetermined conditionis unmet when even one is not in a constant relation.
 40. The controlsystem according to claim 39, wherein the “in a constant relation” is arelation in which the observation information is larger than thecorresponding reference information and in case of this relation thevariation control is a control in which the observation information islowered.
 41. The control system according to claim 39, wherein the “in aconstant relation” is a relation in which the observation information issmaller than the corresponding reference information and in case of thisrelation the variation control is a control in which the observationinformation is increased.
 42. The control system according to claim 33,wherein a control width of at least one of the control amount of thecontrol target device and a control amount of the return control is setfor each of the control target devices.
 43. The control system accordingto claim 33, wherein a control width of at least one of the controlamount of the control target device and a control amount of the returncontrol is reduced in response to a convergence, or reduced along with apassing of time until convergence.
 44. The control system according toclaim 33, wherein a selection number of the selected control targetdevices is made to approach one in response to a convergence.
 45. Acontrol system, being a control system having two or more control targetdevices and one or more judgment devices, wherein the judgment device isprovided with a reference information storage portion that storesreference information, an observation information sampling portion thatsamples observation information, and a comparison portion that comparesthe reference information and the observation information, and sends acomparison result to the control target devices, the control targetdevice control a control amount based on the judgment result, and atleast one of the control target devices randomly changes the amount ofcontrol and the observation information is made to approach thereference information by narrowing a range in which the judgment controlportion randomly changes the amount of control based on the receivedcomparison result.
 46. The control system according to claim 45, whereinall the control target devices randomly change the respective amount ofcontrol and the observation information is made to approach thereference information by narrowing a range in which the control targetdevices randomly change the control amounts based on the receivedcomparison result.
 47. The control system according to claim 45, whereina plurality of judgment devices are provided, the control target devicestotal the comparison results received from the plurality of judgmentdevices to calculate an evaluation value and the observation informationis made to approach the reference information by narrowing a range ofrandomly changed control amounts based on the evaluation value.
 48. Thecontrol system according to claim 45, wherein the judgment devicecompares the observation information and the reference information inthe comparison portion and sends difference information as thecomparison result so that the received comparison result is evaluated inat least one of the control target devices, and narrows a range in whichthe control amounts are randomly changed so as to increase an occurrencerate of control amounts corresponding to evaluations of small differenceinformation to make the observation information approach the referenceinformation.
 49. The control system according to claim 45, wherein thejudgment device transmits large-small information indicating which ofthe observation information and the reference information is larger, andat least one of the control target devices narrows a range in which thecontrol amounts are randomly changed so as to counterbalance largeinformation and small information of the large-small information basedon the received comparison result to make the observation informationapproach the reference information.
 50. A control target devicecomprising the control system according to claim
 33. 51. A judgmentdevice comprising the control system according to claim 33.